The Virtual Curation Lab at Virginia Commonwealth University is currently working on a new project to memorialize grave markers in historically Black cemeteries throughout Richmond, Virginia.
Led by Bernard Means, a teaching associate professor at VCU, the Virtual Curation Lab specializes in taking 3D scans of historical, archaeological, and paleontological objects. Over the past two years, Dr. Means and his lab have partnered with the Richmond Cemetery Collaboratory to document grave markers throughout Woodland Cemetery. Currently closed to new burials, the site is the resting place for roughly 30,000 Black residents from Richmond.
After decades of neglect and vandalism, Woodland and other historically Black cemeteries throughout the area have been overtaken by forests, with only some individual graves receiving regular care. By documenting grave markers, the Virtual Curation Lab aims to preserve a piece of Richmond’s Black history and provide the descendants of the deceased with a connection to their families’ pasts.
In addition to creating 3D models of grave markers, the Virtual Curation Lab also documents each grave’s location, making it easier for descendants to locate. The scans are also uploaded to the Richmond Cemetery Collaboratory’s online archive and Find a Grave, a global online archive of grave sites.
